United States – Qualifications: Valtteri Bottas at the top, closely followed by Sebastian Vettel

To achieve a good time, it will be necessary to pay close attention to the track limits and to handle the numerous bumps on this course.

Q1

The Williams kicked off the qualifying session at 4 p.m. local time in Austin. The first lap time was set by Robert Kubica with a 1:38.302. It was immediately improved by nine-tenths by his teammate. Charles Leclerc quickly secured himself with a 1:34.696 on softs. Lewis Hamilton clocked his first timed lap at 1:33.454. The McLarens are comfortable and confirm themselves as the fourth force this American weekend.

Pierre Gasly stood out from his teammate in Q1, setting a magnificent 4th fastest time in his modest Toro Rosso. Midway through the session, the Alfa Romeos and both Williams found themselves in the red zone for accessing Q2. Following his penalty this morning for failing to comply with the weigh-in during FP2, Sergio Perez completed only a few laps to be able to start from the pit lane tomorrow. Indeed, his time had to comply with the 107% rule. Charles Leclerc, with an old engine due to his morning mishaps, did not come back out and eventually finished 12th. He had only a 2-tenths margin to move to Q2.

Kimi Räikkönen locked up his tires on his last flying lap. Thus, Antonio Giovinazzi was classified just ahead of him but remains the first to be eliminated. Following are George Russell, Sergio Perez, and Robert Kubica.

Q2

The Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, as well as Max Verstappen, have chosen to start this Q2 on medium tires. 1:33.045 for Hamilton in the lead and 1:33.198 for Vettel in 5th, these five men are separated by 0.153 seconds. Alex Albon is leading with a validated lap of 1:32.898 on soft tires.

Halfway through the session, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Nico Hülkenberg, and Romain Grosjean were potentially eliminated from Q2. Upon resumption, Stroll was the first to go out, but he made a mistake in the first corner. Ranked 13th before this lap, he would not be able to aim for a top 10.

The two Ferrari drivers go back out on medium tires, unlike all the others. They improve their times, with Leclerc at 1:32.760 ahead of Vettel.

A little scare for the leading teams when there was a misunderstanding between Hamilton and Verstappen who nearly collided at the end of Q2 while overtaking Daniil Kvyat.

Finally, Nico Hülkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll, and Romain Grosjean will not be present in Q3. France will be represented in Q3 by Pierre Gasly and the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo for this final part of the qualifying session.

Third quarter

During the first attack, Valtteri Bottas set the track record at 1:32.029, 12 thousandths ahead of Vettel. Hamilton missed in the first sequence and is only classified in 5th position. Verstappen and Leclerc are 3rd and 4th, respectively. Ultimately, among the top 5, only Charles Leclerc improved his time on the second attempt but remained 4th. It is the 6th consecutive pole position for a Mercedes in the United States and the 11th of Valtteri Bottas’s career.

Daniel Ricciardo chose to complete this Q3 session with only one flying lap, finishing 9th. The rest of the standings are completed in order by Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pierre Gasly.